Canyonlands

It was one of those glorious weekends, the kind where the stress of the week melts away in the rays of a golden sun, and a soft, warm breeze caresses your soul.  The kind where you load up all four kids, food, water, and gear, and caravan with your brother-in-law and his wife 3.5 hours south to one of the best-kept secrets of the National Park system: Capital Reef National Park.  It was the perfect weekend for a set of backpacking-firsts.

Although my four children are not new to backpacking, our weekend backpacking trip to Spring Canyon in Capital Reef National Park stands out as the first time my two oldest donned their own backpacks and carried some of their own gear.  Topping out at about 7 pounds they each hauled rain gear, hat, jacket, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, and water.  What was it like?  Did they enjoy it?  Would they go again?  Well, what better way to find out then to see what they had to say about it.

My road trip to Canyonlands National Park evoked a rush of nostalgia and childhood memories of Southern Utah and the long hot drives: chip crumbs smashed into the floor mat, rock music from the ’60s and ’70s and windblown hair and burned cheeks from unrolled windows due to a broken AC.

Canyonlands National Park, located in southwest Utah near Moab and Arches National Park, consists of majestic mesas and layered canyons. It is divided into three sections by the gorges of the Colorado and Green rivers: Island in the Sky, the Needles, and the Maze.

Hiking, boating, kayaking, biking, backpacking and rock climbing are a few of the suggested activities the vast 337,598-acre park has to offer. I had just a few days to visit the park and found that the Island in the Sky was the easiest to get to from Salt Lake City and had many short hikes with impressive views, a convenient campsite, and helpful guides.

You never really know what will happen when you step outside; sometimes things fall apart in terrible ways you never could have imagined, and sometimes they roll along merrily, a distillation of perfection.

The natural world is full of potential but that very potential is a mysterious paradox.  There is the potential for ease, sustenance, and peace, and the potential for violence and fear. No matter how well you plan for your trip or prepare yourself and your gear, you can’t ensure either one, you must just take them each as they come, returning again and again in hopes of the ease, understanding that the violence will inevitably have its time too. Nothing personal, “it’s just nature’s way.”